


This Never Was (A Perfect World)

by Snow



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-08
Updated: 2008-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-07 08:58:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow/pseuds/Snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen wishes he could switch places with a four-year old. And it's not just because he thinks he can colour better than her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Never Was (A Perfect World)

Jack got the call from Owen at three in the morning, which was unusual because Owen rarely decided to take a personal day until nine or ten the day of. "Anticipating a hangover?" Jack asked sympathetically, trying to do the little things that would convince his team to let him back into their lives.

"Something like that," Owen answered, with a slur in his voice that Jack was surprised he hadn't noticed earlier. "Can I have the day off, then?"

"Yeah, sure," Jack said. "I'll give you a call if we need you."

Owen hung up without replying.  


* * *

Owen was only stopped once on his way to London for speeding. Owen waited until the cop car was out of sight, then bumped his speed up again.

He arrived in London before the sun did, and wasted no time in finding his childhood home and parking behind an unnaturally bright blue car. Owen made his way to the front door and rang the bell, hesitantly, half-expecting the phone call to have been a mistake and to be yelled at for waking up his mum at this hour. It wasn't a mistake, although she was still visibly annoyed with him.

"I heard your message," Owen said. "Well, obviously," he added a moment later, when she hadn't answered.

"You didn't let me know you'd be coming," she said eventually.

"I figured you knew I had to." Owen thought that most mothers would have been proud of their sons for becoming doctors; Owen's would have rather he had become a plumber, as long as he could be a married plumber, with children. Which, in retrospect, was probably why she had clung so hard to Alastair, even after Paige, Alastair's wife and Owen's older sister, had died.

"How long will you be staying?"

"I have to be back at work tomorrow," Owen said.

"The funeral's on Friday."

"I'll come back for it," Owen promised, hoping that something would come up in the intervening three days at work and Owen would have to save the world, or repair it, or destroy it, so he wouldn't be able to make the funeral of a brother-in-law he'd never liked much, and who certainly hadn't ever liked Owen.  


* * *

"Where did you say Owen is?" Ianto asked, entering the hub from the tourist office and frowning.

"At home with a hangover," Jack said, subconsciously matching Ianto's frown. "Why?"

"He was ticketed at three thirty this morning for speeding. Just outside of Newbury, headed east."

"Really?" Jack paused. "And do you monitor all your coworkers' traffic records?"

Ianto shrugged eloquently. "Just the ones I've shot."

Jack laughed at that, then added, without quite growing serious, "Run a search on Owen and see if anything else has come up. Maybe something with his family?" The only place Jack could think of that Owen would be headed without telling anyone would be London. Unless it was some type of alien possession, and that was an option that definitely needed to be considered.

Ianto headed over to his computer and ran a quick search. "Alastair Howell. Owen's brother-in-law. Died in a car accident late last night."

Tosh entered the hub in time to hear the last part. "Owen has a sister?" she asked, setting her purse down on her desk.

"Had," Jack corrected gently. "She died three years ago."

"Oh," Tosh said, then, a few seconds later, after all the facts had sunk in, she repeated the word. "Did they have any children?" she asked.

Ianto started to scroll through the article he was reading, before Jack shook his head. "It's none of our business," Jack said. "If Owen feels like talking about it we can ask him these questions later. Otherwise we can give him some space."

Ianto looked up at Jack and pursed his lips, but decided not to mention that if Jack hadn't given Ianto so much space, the situation with Lisa might have ended with two less people dead.   


* * *

Owen leaned against the door frame, watching his four-year-old niece sprawled across his parent's bed, colouring. He'd sought peace here half an hour ago, after realizing that, despite the influx of well-wishers that had started around ten, everybody was giving the deceased's daughter her space.

"What are you colouring?" Owen asked, his first words to the girl.

She held up the picture to show him, and he approached until he could clearly see the dog she was colouring brown. He nodded in approval, and sat down on the bed beside her as she resumed colouring quietly.

Twenty minutes later, Ellie asked him why he hadn't visited last Christmas. "I met a woman," he told her honestly, after thinking about it. "I was in love with her." Although, to be truly honest, he hadn't ever planned to spend his Christmas with his sister's daughter and Alastair, even if Alastair had extended an invitation. Owen hadn't gone the year before.

Fifteen minutes after that, Owen started wondering if anyone had explained to Ellie what was going on. He decided not to ask, because he didn't want to be the one to have to give her the explanation. He was crap with kids.

Half an hour later, Owen's mother came looking for him and told him he should be accepting condolences. She didn't say anything to Ellie, and Owen wasn't sure if that was because his mother had forgotten about the kid, or if she was letting Ellie come to term at her own pace. Either way, Owen wished they could switch places.

Hes was surprised at how many of the condolences were directed at him, until he realized that, despite Owen's request to the contrary, Alastair must have told people about the monthly check Owen had started sending after Paige had died and Alastair had quit his job to care for Ellie. Apart from his admittedly luxurious apartment, Owen had few other expenses, and he was paid well for all the risks he took for Torchwood. Money might not be able to buy everything, but it could apparently buy family.  


* * *

Jack let Gwen leave early to spend the evening with Rhys. He made the same offer to Tosh and Ianto, to go home early, that was, not to spend the evening with Rhys, but they both declined. They said they had nowhere to go, but Ianto did so with a slight quirk of the eyebrow at Jack, which Tosh couldn't help but notice.

Everyone agreed that the hub was much quieter without Owen around, and, though she didn't know if it was his absence or the unacknowledged reason for his absence, Tosh noticed that the atmosphere was much more tense and much more grim.

When the phone rang, Tosh felt her heart fly up to her throat, but Ianto answered it calmly enough. "Yes? Hello Owen."

"I'm very sorry for your loss."

"No, I don't think it will be a problem. Let me check with Jack." Ianto covered the mouthpiece with one hand while he asked the question. "Owen wants the rest of the week off," he said.

Jack nodded, but then held out his hand for the phone. "Yes, take the whole week if you want," Jack confirmed, then let a smile out as Owen replied.

Tosh could picture Owen protesting that he didn't really want to stay, and that he'd rather be at work, but that his family wanted him to stay. She vaguely wished she could hear what he was actually saying, because maybe then she would think up something to say in comfort. After all, this had to be hard for him.

"We'll try not to be injured or find any aliens that require your expertise until Monday, then," Jack joked, before adding, almost tenderly, "Take care, Owen."  


* * *

Owen wasn't sure if he was relieved or not that Jack expected everything to return to normalcy Monday morning; he wasn't sure whether or not that was what he wanted. He hung up the cellphone and stuck it into his pocket, forcing Ellie to temporarily detach from his left arm.

"You going to go to bed soon?" Owen asked once he had secured his cellphone, kneeling down on the ground before the little girl, who shook her head. Owen nodded, he didn't want to push the issue.

When he saw his mother approaching, however, looking determined, Owen gently suggested to Ellie that she might want to go talk to "Aunt Mary," as Ellie called the woman who had been a close friend of her father's, and who had a daughter Ellie's age.

Owen watched the four-year-old go. "Do you know who's going to take care of her now?" he asked his mother, partly because he was genuinely concerned, and partly as a diversionary tactic.

It worked. "You don't know?" his mum asked. Owen shook his head, by now used to communicating with Ellie. "Alastair named you in his will."  


* * *

Owen got a room in a hotel because it was easier than crowding into his childhood room. He took Ellie with him because the four-year-old girl really didn't have anywhere else to go. "Do you want to stay in London?" he asked Ellie, since, as much as he didn't think he could take care of her, and didn't want to, Owen thought she should have some input into this process.

Ellie shrugged.

Owen shrugged back. "If you stay with me, you'll have to move to Cardiff," he said, after a pause. "I can't move back here."

She nodded. "I know."

"Are you," Owen started, before trailing off. "When do you think you'll be ready to pick up things?" Ellie would need some of her clothes and want some of her toys.

"Thursday?"

"Sure."  


* * *

After the funeral on Friday, Owen hung around less than the minimum required by social nicety. All he had to do was plead a desire to get Ellie settled into her new home, though, and he was off the hook. Owen might have found this fact enjoyable, if he hadn't been telling the truth. He needed to have Ellie settled, and he needed to figure out what to do about his job. Torchwood and having a private life were inherently incompatible, whatever Jack might promise Gwen.

Friday night, Ellie slept in Owen's bed, and Owen slept on the couch. Saturday morning, she told him she thought the bed was too big. That day, in addition to making sure Ellie was alright and hoping that she didn't break anything, Owen contemplated his apartment and came to a sad conclusion. There was no way he could fit into his current apartment with Ellie. He would have to find a two-bedroom soon.

On Sunday, Owen arranged for a sitter to come watch Ellie when he went to talk to Jack. Owen figured it would be best to have it over with before Monday and work.

When the sitter arrived, a teenage girl with straight blond bangs which half-obscured her eyes, Ellie decided that she didn't want to stay behind, and told Owen her decision quite firmly.

"I'm sorry," Owen said to the sitter. Mostly because he still intended to leave Ellie behind. He couldn't take her with him, and he felt he needed to make that clear from the beginning.

Ellie started to cry louder, trying to stave off the feeling of abandonment with tears.

Owen crouched low to talk to Ellie, while the teenage girl leaned against the wall, trying to create an artificial sense of privacy by avoiding eye contact with both of them. "I can't take you with me to work," he explained. "I just can't."

Ellie didn't stop crying at this logical explanation of the situation. Owen stood up and took a step towards the door; she ran forward and grabbed his hand. "This is not going to happen every day," he told her.

"No," she managed, through the sobs that were gradually subsiding into sniffles, in part because she saw a glimmer of hope, and in part because it took too much energy to cry.

"Just today?" Owen asked.

Ellie nodded. "I promise."

Owen figured it wouldn't be the worst thing to bring Ellie with him today. For one, it would convince Jack that he was perfectly serious, for another, there was a chance Ellie's presence would tug at Jack's heartstrings, and the man would become more willing to give Owen the same kind of allowances he gave Gwen.  


* * *

Owen walked into the tourist office, not remotely surprised to find the door unlocked and the desk empty. "Jack," he called out. While Owen waited for Jack to show, he tried to interest Ellie in the tourist brochures. "Can you read?" he asked.

She gave him a look that would have been withering if she was ten years older. "Yes."

"Oh. Good. Let me know what you see that seems interesting." Owen had only ever visited the tourist attractions in Cardiff that had aliens or alien objects, but he thought that perhaps Ellie would find it enjoyable. It would at least give him some idea of how to occupy her.

Ellie gave him the same look she had before—the one that said he was being an idiot. "I can't read _those_."

"I see. Well." Owen briefly let go of Ellie's hand to fetch down one of the brochures that had more pictures than words. "You can look through this then."

"Owen?"

"Jack." Owen guiltily tried to drop Ellie's hand, but she didn't let him. He did manage to turn both of them around to face Jack. "This is Ellie..my niece. She's also my legal responsibility now." Owen met Jack's gaze, just daring him to say something. When he didn't, Owen continued. "Ellie, this is-"

"Captain Jack Harkness. I'm sorry for your loss."

"S'alright," Ellie muttered her standard response.

"You're staying with your uncle now?"

Ellie nodded. "That's right," Owen added.

"OK. Ellie, I need to talk to Owen for a few moments."

"And we can do that here," Owen replied.

Jack shrugged, and walked across the tourist office to lock the door. "I don't want anyone interrupting or hearing something they shouldn't."

"I want to make one thing clear before we start." Owen didn't acknowledge the locked door, or the implicit statement that Ellie shouldn't hear any of this. She was four, and not even likely to understand most of what they said. Owen wasn't sure he did. "Under no circumstances will you put _anything_ in her food or drink." Owen closed his eyes briefly, not letting himself reconsider his ultimatum. If Jack said no, Owen would have to find a new job, along with everything else. But Owen didn't think he had the right to take anything else from his niece.

Jack considered Owen for a moment. "No matter what she sees?"

"Right."

"Then you'll have to make sure she doesn't see anything."

"Yeah. Fine."

Ellie reached the last page of the brochure Owen had handed her, and dropped it on the floor. Owen bent down to pick it up and put it back on display. "She won't usually be here," he suddenly thought to assure Jack. "She just didn't want to stay with the sitter today, and since it's been less than a week, I thought that she shouldn't have to. Usually she'll be taken care of."

"And what happens when we have something that needs dealing with late at night and you can't get a sitter?"

"Shit," Owen muttered. He hadn't really thought anything through, partly because no one gave him the option of saying no. He had to deal with whatever obstacles arose. "I don't suppose you have a solution?" he asked Jack.

Jack frowned. "How well behaved is she?"

"How should I know?" Owen considered for a moment. "She seems quite quiet. But then, I probably would be too, in her present situation. Why?"

"It was a thought. You know, this wouldn't be a problem if you had a partner."

"You're expecting me to hitch up with someone just so she can help take care of my sister's kid? That's shameless, even for me."

Jack shrugged, not denying it. Owen watched Ellie fiddle with her hair. "Do you have a pen and any paper she could use?"

"I'll find something." Jack disappeared into the main hub.

Once Jack had left, Owen knelt beside Ellie. "How are you doing?" he asked her.

Ellie shrugged.

"Bored?"

Ellie did not deny it.

"You could have stayed at home," Owen reminded her.

"Am I a problem?" Ellie asked.

"Of course not," Owen assured her, and an older child might have noticed that he was a little too quick to respond. But however he might feel about unexpectedly gaining a four-year-old, he wasn't going to make her feel responsible for it. It wasn't her issue to deal with.

Owen noticed Jack come in this time, and quickly stood and brushed possible dirt off the knees of his jeans. Jack handed the paper and some coloured pencils to Owen, who passed them on to Ellie. Ellie looked at the floor disdainfully. They couldn't really expect her to draw on it, could they?

"Do you want to use the desk?"

Ellie looked at Owen, asking his permission to accept Jack's offer, and when he nodded, she walked over and scrambled into the chair.

"Whenever we go out on a mission someone has to stay here," Jack started. "Mostly in the hub, but they could certainly keep an eye on her in the tourist office."

Owen shook his head firmly. Jack didn't want Ellie here. Maybe he felt responsible for the fact that Owen had nowhere to turn, and couldn't really quit, or maybe he was just looking for the right thing to say. Either way, Ellie would be about as safe in the tourist office as she would be in a lion's den. "It's not an option. Don't worry, though, I'll work something out."  


* * *

"Did you want to take anything with?" Owen asked Ellie Monday morning, as they were preparing to leave his apartment. "Are you allowed to?" It had been a long time since he had gone to nursery school, and he didn't remember any of it. Ellie didn't know either, so he grabbed one of her books, the one he'd had her read to him last night, and a stuffed giraffe.

Owen had some difficulty finding the place. The directions they'd given when he called to see if he could enrol Ellie were vague and seemed to be telling him to double back multiple times.

He did find it, and as they entered Owen held Ellie's hand tightly, but not as tightly as her grip on him. "Hi," he greeted the receptionist, "I'd like to sign the forms for enrolment. For Ellie Howell. I called ahead."

"Yes. Just have a seat, and I'll be back in a second with the paperwork."

Owen sat down, and examined the office he was in. It looked neat, with books arranged on shelves by size rather than being alphabetized. The man returned, and handed Owen several forms pinned to a clipboard. Owen flipped through the pages, and started filling out his address, his and Ellie's birth-dates, and trying to remember where his tax forms said he worked. He couldn't, so he pulled out some of those tax forms, as well as the other documents he'd brought along in case they were necessary.

Owen filled in his place of work; that was the last of the easy questions. Owen cleared his throat, and clipped the pen to the papers.

"Can I help you?" asked the receptionist.

"Actually, yes." Owen ran a hand through his hair. "See, Ellie isn't my daughter. She's my niece. Her father died last week. And I was named as her guardian. I have an appointment with the court on Wednesday. Which will complete the formal arrangement." Owen paused, but the man behind the desk didn't say anything. "I have her birth certificate, a copy of my brother-in-law's will, and his death certificate."

"If I can have copies of those, as well as some identification of yours, that will be sufficient for now. As soon as you have the official adoption papers—"

"Of course. Thank you." Owen picked out the papers that had been mentioned and handed them to the receptionist, who left to make the copies. Owen looked at Ellie. "Does this place seem fine?"

Ellie nodded.

"Good."  


* * *

Owen walked into work at 8:30, and, within forty-five minutes figured out why he didn't usually do this. He wasn't a morning person, and his work was inefficient if he tried to be.

"Coffee?" Ianto's offer came as Owen was considering calling the alien he was examining a Weevil, just to have it classified _somewhere_.

"Yes." Owen took the offered cup and sipped it. "Thank you," he said, because there had been a time when he hadn't, and Ianto had followed Owen around until he had said the words. That had been a long two days.

Ianto didn't leave, but chose instead to hover near Owen.

"You're not going to tell me you spat in it, are you?" Owen asked.

Ianto winced, although whether that was because he'd actually done that once (or more often) or that he hated to think of coffee despoiled in that way, Owen didn't know. "No. Just, if I can help with anything, I'd like to."

Owen shrugged. "You can bugger off and let me do my job, I guess," he said, though he wanted to know whether Jack had told Ianto, or Ianto had found out on his own about Ellie. Because there was no other reason the Welsh man would be tiptoeing around Owen.

Fifteen minutes later, Owen came to the conclusion that it was the cat-sized alien at fault, not him. With a sigh, he went to look for Jack. He could probably identify it, but Owen hadn't wanted to ask him because that would require listening through one of his stories.

Owen avoided attracting either Gwen or Tosh's attention while he walked across the hub, but he did have to stand by to let Ianto walk past, before entering Jack's office.

"Owen. How can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you'd be able to help me with the identification of an alien. I don't think Torchwood has any earlier specimens like this one. There certainly isn't anything in the records regarding it."

"I'll be up in just a moment." Owen wasn't quite sure if that meant he should wait for Jack in his office, or if he should go back to the autopsy room and wait there. He decided on the latter.

Owen was looking at the alien body, trying to decide if the shade of purple had darkened since he left, when Jack entered. When Owen glanced up, he saw Jack still standing in the doorway. "Is there a problem?" Owen asked.

"Who else has been in here?"

"Ianto brought me coffee. Why?"

"Get him in here."

"Why?" Owen asked again. Jack didn't reply. "Tell me what's wrong," Owen demanded.

"I'll tell you as soon as Ianto gets here."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Teaboy!" he yelled.

Ianto, surprisingly, actually appeared, which didn't really make Owen any less antagonistic. "What's going on?" Ianto asked, glancing between Jack and Owen. Owen looked at Jack as well.

"This species of alien, Kandiiroan, by the way, has, as an unfortunate side effect of its decomposition, a tendency to emit a slow-acting, highly toxic, poison."

"Contagious?" Owen asked.

"No."

"Then why the quarantine?"

"This? This isn't a quarantine. Near the end of its primary decomposition, the Kandiiroan releases the antidote to its own poison. It's just important that everyone exposed to the toxin be around when the antidote is released, since it's nearly impossible to contain."

"I see," Owen said slowly. "And don't you think his is the kind of information that would be useful to have in some kind of record?"

"So Torchwood One could find a way to reproduce the poison? Because that's exactly what they would have done."

"Torchwood One has been gone for over a year now, and you haven't exactly rushed to share your knowledge," Owen said.

"And you haven't exactly been open to listening."

Ianto coughed twice. "Where did you find the body?" he asked Owen.

"It came through the rift."

"Where did it come through the rift at?"

"In the archives," Owen said, catching Ianto's concerns. "Tosh saw the spike in rift activity, so I investigated, and moved it up here by myself."

"How long will the toxins last?" Ianto asked Jack. "Will we need to flush them out somehow?"

Jack shook his head. "The Kandiiroans come from a planet with a significant atmospheric component of helium, which is probably what killed this one. But it means that both the toxin and the antidote tend to dissipate fairly quickly."

"How long," Owen asked, "Until the antidote will be released?"

"Probably between three and seven hours, though it could theoretically be as soon as five minutes, which is why I wouldn't advise we leave."

"Just wonderful," Owen muttered. "Since we're here, Jack, this could be a good time for you to start writing down what you know about various aliens."

"Here I was hoping we'd do something more fun."

"Yeah." Owen handed Jack a notebook and a pen. "If you can, start with the more dangerous species. And having pictures would probably help."

Jack sat down with his back against the wall, and started sketching. Ianto watched Owen working for five minutes before offering to organize for Owen.

"No. Then I wouldn't be bloody able to find anything."

"Fine. Thought I'd offer." Ianto shrugged.

Owen was still wondering what he could be doing during the time he was confined when Ianto pulled out his cell. "I'm going to call Gwen and Tosh and let them know we're fine, but that they shouldn't come too close."

Owen nodded, because Ianto seemed to be waiting for some kind of confirmation. "How large is the radius of the toxin?" Ianto directed the question at Jack.

"Two and a quarter meters."

Owen and Ianto exchanged a glance. "And the antidote?" Owen asked.

"The same." Owen and Ianto took a few steps closer to the body, thankful that it didn't smell, then Ianto made the phone call.

"Hello Gwen. It's Ianto. No, no, everything's fine. Well, mostly. It's just not a very good idea for either you or Tosh to come down or any of us—Jack, Owen and myself—to come up. Nothing serious, just an alien Owen was studying did something unexpected, and we need to stay nearby until it does something expected. Would you mind letting Tosh know? Thanks."

Owen watched Ianto fiddle with his phone, before tentatively approaching the alien and looking at it for the first time. "It doesn't look all that dangerous does it?" Owen asked Ianto, as the Welsh man stared disbelievingly at the purple scales and the face that looked rather squished and not at all menacing. At least the Kandiiroan didn't have a tail.

Noticing that Owen wasn't doing any work either, Ianto glanced at his watch. "Do you have a plan for if this takes longer than six hours?" he asked Owen, because he was tired of being nice to Owen when Owen clearly didn't want that, and because he was a little bored.

"No," Owen said. "I don't."

"Could Gwen or Tosh pick her up?"

Owen shrugged. "Ellie hasn't met them. It seems like a bad idea to start off a precedent of having her go off with people she doesn't trust."

"She trusts _you_?"

"Ha bloody ha," Owen said.  


* * *

At 1:30, just as Owen was seriously considering throttling Jack until he admitted that he'd made up the entire threat and that there had never been a toxin and there would never be an antidote, or throttling Ianto for accepting and being so calm about it all, the alien shimmered yellow. Jack stood up and handed the notebook to Owen. "That's that, then," Jack said. "Now who wants lunch?"  


* * *

"Owen," Tosh greeted him. "I didn't see you come in this morning. And then, you know, I couldn't exactly have dropped by to say hello."

"Not unless you wanted to spend the next several hours gathered around a dead alien body," Owen agreed.

Tosh considered Owen for a moment, as if she was expecting him to be annoyed with her. "Would you accept my condolences on the death of your brother-in-law?"

Owen nodded. "I would. Thank you, Tosh."

Owen wasn't surprised that Tosh wanted to see a picture of Ellie. She was surprised that he actually had one of her on him. But part of Owen was convinced that he would be asked to prove that he had the right to pick her up from nursery school, and he thought having a picture might help with that.

"She's adorable," Tosh said, and Owen didn't think he'd know what to say to that even if she was his kid. "Gwen," Tosh called. "Have you seen Owen's niece?"

Owen obligingly passed the picture to Gwen, who made a noise that was a combination of a sigh and a coo. "Who's taking care of her now?" Gwen asked. "You?"

"Yeah." He thought about mentioning that there wasn't anyone else who could, and that his mother would disown him even more than she already had if he even considered putting her up for adoption—even though Owen knew full well he couldn't take care of a child—but he didn't.  


* * *

Owen wanted to be able to say he had a new apartment which would fit both Ellie and himself comfortably by Wednesday, because his solicitor has mentioned otherwise there might be concerns raised. Although the solicitor had then gone on to mention that since Owen was mentioned in the will, most of the court appointment and paperwork was just a formality. Which left Owen feeling rather confused about whether finding a new apartment was high-priority or not. But since Owen knew he had to find a new apartment anyway, he simply planned have it over and done with as soon as possible.

He looked at half a dozen places with Ellie after picking her up from nursery school. She didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter, but Owen thought one of the places looked promising. Not much of a view, but then, any views available would only be of Cardiff anyway.

After they had finished looking at apartments, Owen stopped at a toy store to allow Ellie to pick something out. She wasn't sure what she wanted, so, after waiting what he deemed a sufficient amount of time to see if anything caught her eye, Owen picked out a new colouring book for her.

"How was your day?" he asked her, when they were finally back in the car, headed for his apartment.

"Fine," Ellie replied.

"Did you make any friends with the other kids?"

"Not yet."

"Oh." Owen wasn't quite sure what he could say to that, but he wasn't really sure what he could say to Ellie in general. He didn't relate well to children, but he didn't usually consider that a character flaw. "Better luck tomorrow?"

Ellie shrugged.

"You'll be fine," Owen assured her. "Hey. Do you want pizza for dinner?"

"Yes."

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness this feels old. Not my best piece by a long shot, but here because I'm a completionist.
> 
> I welcome and appreciate all kinds of comments, though I would (obviously) prefer if any criticism was constructive. :)


End file.
